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Previous studies have reported the occurrence of transferable quinolone resistance determinants in environmental Escherichia coli. However, little is known about their vectors and genetic contexts. To gain insights into these genetic characteristics, we analyzed the complete genomes of 53 environmental E. coli isolates containing one or more transferable quinolone resistance determinants, including 20 sequenced in this study and 33 sourced from RefSeq. The studied genomes carried the following transferable quinolone resistance determinants alone or in combination: aac(6′)-Ib-cr, oqxAB, qepA1, qnrA1, qnrB4, qnrB7, qnrB19, qnrD1, qnrS1, and qnrS2, with qnrS1 being predominant. These resistance genes were detected on plasmids of diverse replicon types; however, aac(6′)-Ib-cr, qnrS1, and qnrS2 were also detected on the chromosome. The genetic contexts surrounding these genes included not only those found in clinical isolates but also novel contexts, such as qnrD1 embedded within a composite transposon-like structure bounded by Tn3-derived inverted-repeat miniature elements (TIMEs). This study provides deep insights into mobile genetic elements associated with transferable quinolone resistance determinants, highlighting the importance of genomic surveillance of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Despite a scarcity of data, before 2022 Ukraine was already considered a high-prevalence country for carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE), and the situation has dramatically worsened during the full-scale war with Russia. The aim of this study was to analyse CPEs isolated in Poland from victims of war in Ukraine. Methods: The study included 65 CPE isolates from March 2022 till February 2023, recovered in 36 Polish medical centres from 57 patients arriving from Ukraine, differing largely by age and reason for hospitalisation. All isolates were sequenced by MiSeq and ten Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates also by MinION. Taxonomy, clonality and resistomes were analysed for all CPEs, whereas phylogeny, serotypes, virulomes and plasmids were characterised for K. pneumoniae, and partially for Escherichia coli ST131, using various bioinformatic tools. Results: Multifactorial diversity of the isolates reflected the patients' clinical-epidemiological heterogeneity. The CPEs represented six species. Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most prevalent with 50 isolates and 15 sequence types (STs), mainly ST395, ST307, ST11, ST147 and ST23, producing NDM (-1/-5), OXA-48 (-48/-1242) or KPC (-2/-3)-like carbapenemases. Each of the STs produced groups of loosely related isolates, clusters of close relatives and/or unique isolates, correlating with K serotypes and carbapenemases. Many of these, especially NDM-1- and/or OXA-48-producing ST395 and ST307, were related to Russian organisms. Others, for example, NDM-1-producing ST11, clustered with those from Poland. Numerous K. pneumoniae isolates had specific virulence genes, including aerobactin iuc, largely due to spread of pNDM-MAR plasmids, showing both resistance and virulence. Two E. coli ST131 isolates belonged to clades B or C1 and produced KPC-3 or NDM-1, respectively. Conclusions: Together with similar studies from Germany and The Netherlands, this work has documented broad dissemination of CPE in Ukraine, driven by a number of specific K. pneumoniae lineages circulating over a large territory of Eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our patient presented to the emergency room following a motor vehicle accident. The traumatic tricuspid valve rupture was diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiogram, and his respiratory status declined rapidly. He was placed on veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO) to bridge him to surgical repair. Transoesophageal echocardiography revealed a large atrial septal defect (ASD) with the combination of both injuries leading to severe left-to- right shunting that was underappreciated in the initial management of the patient. The tricuspid valve and the ASD were repaired. In this patient, in the context of both tricuspid valve rupture and ASD, veno-arterial ECMO or percutaneous right ventricular assist devices may have also helped bridge the patient to surgical repair of his blunt cardiac injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Pseudomonas aeruginosa ST111 is a global multidrug resistant (MDR) high-risk clone and comprehensive data about its molecular epidemiology is limited in Canada. Comprehensive data about the evolution of ST111 clades is limited. We characterized a Canadian collection of ST111 causing bloodstream infections and investigated the genomic relationship between Canadian and global ST111., Material and Methods: We used long and short read WGS to characterize Canadian ST111 (n = 10 from 2010-18). We performed phylogenetic analysis on a global collection of ST111 (n = 969) and investigated the evolutionary history of clades using BEAST., Results: ST111 belonged to 3 clades (A, B, C) and two subclades (C1, C2). ST111-A was the ancestral clade while clades B, C1 and C2 emerged during the 1700s and 1800s. ST111-C2 dominated the global ST111 population. Serotype switching from O4 to O12 and the acquisition of Tn21, gyrA_T83I, parC_S87L, In59 with bla VIM-2 and aacA29 over time, were important in the evolution of ST111-C2. The Calgary ST111 strains consisted of a diverse collection that belonged to ST111-A (O4), ST111-C1 (O4) and ST111-C2 (O12) with different transposon structures., Conclusions: We provided details on the emergence and evolution of different ST111 clades over time and highlighted the roles of serotype switching and the acquisition of certain AMR determinants and transposon structures in the evolution of ST111-C2., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval: Ethics approval for this study was obtained through the University of Calgary Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board (REB17-1010). Consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: This manuscript has not been published and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Next-generation sequencing revolutionized food safety management these last years providing access to a huge quantity of valuable data to identify, characterize, and monitor bacterial pathogens on the food chain. Shotgun metagenomics emerged as a particularly promising approach as it enables in-depth taxonomic profiling and functional investigation of food microbial communities. In this chapter, we provide a comprehensive step-by-step bioinformatical workflow to characterize bacterial ecology and resistome composition from metagenomic short-reads obtained by shotgun sequencing., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

One of the main challenges in food microbiology is to prevent the risk of outbreaks by avoiding the distribution of food contaminated by bacteria. This requires constant monitoring of the circulating strains throughout the food production chain. Bacterial genomes contain signatures of natural evolution and adaptive markers that can be exploited to better understand the behavior of pathogen in the food industry. The monitoring of foodborne strains can therefore be facilitated by the use of these genomic markers capable of rapidly providing essential information on isolated strains, such as the source of contamination, risk of illness, potential for biofilm formation, and tolerance or resistance to biocides. The increasing availability of large genome datasets is enhancing the understanding of the genetic basis of complex traits such as host adaptation, virulence, and persistence. Genome-wide association studies have shown very promising results in the discovery of genomic markers that can be integrated into rapid detection tools. In addition, machine learning has successfully predicted phenotypes and classified important traits. Genome-wide association and machine learning tools have therefore the potential to support decision-making circuits intending at reducing the burden of foodborne diseases. The aim of this chapter review is to provide knowledge on the use of these two methods in food microbiology and to recommend their use in the field., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)